Lawmaker Urges River Ferry Expansion

Representative Woodie Salmon from Beaver on the Yukon River would like to see state ferry routes expanded to that historic Interior Alaska waterway. Ktva.com reported that expanding the Alaska Marine Highway System to communities on the Yukon River would boost their economies and foster tourism. Salmon's House Bill 432 calls for the Alaska Department of Transportation to study ferry travel on the Yukon. The bill claims that summertime barge service on the Yukon is slow and infrequent with many communities taking deliveries once or twice per summer. With regular ferry service, the bill suggests, villagers would have another option for shipment of groceries and supplies and that the Yukon River ferries would help Fairbanks more than anywhere because the city serves as the river country's tourism gateway. (Source: www.ktva.com)